REVIEW -- Injustice 2

Injustice 2 is a fighting video game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the sequel to 2013's Injustice: Gods Among Us. The game was released in May 2017 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Similar to the previous installment, a companion mobile app was released for iOS and Android devices.

The core gameplay remains similar to its predecessor, albeit with minor adjustments to returning game mechanics. Injustice 2 introduces a new feature called the Gear System, a loot-dropping system that rewards players with costume pieces and equipment that can be used to customize characters' appearances and modify their abilities and stats. According to developers, the idea for implementing an RPG-style progression system into a fighting game had existed since before the fall of Midway Games, the original publisher for the Mortal Kombat series. Director Ed Boon also sought to incorporate gameplay mechanics used by multiplayer shooter games, such as personalization, character creation, loot, and leveling up, into the fighting game genre, which led to the development of the Gear System.

Injustice 2's storyline centers around Batman and his insurgency's attempt to restore society after the fall of Superman's regime; however, the arrivals of the newly formed supervillain group "The Society" and the alien Brainiac force Batman to consider freeing the imprisoned Superman to help combat the threats.

Plot: (FULL Spoilers) 

Five years after Superman's defeat, Batman and his collaborators attempt to piece the world back together. However, a new faction, the Society, composed of villains spearheaded by Gorilla Grodd, emerges and plans for world domination. With several of his allies either victims of or collaborators with Superman's failed regime, Batman is forced to create a new team to combat the Society. He sends Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Harley Quinn to combat them in Gorilla City, where Doctor Fate warns Green Arrow and Black Canary of an incoming threat towards the planet. After defeating Grodd, the two are abducted by Brainiac, the true mastermind behind the Society. Having previously collected and destroyed Krypton, he had intended to reclaim Superman, but became interested in adding Earth to his collection. After Brainiac takes over Batman's communications hub, Brother Eye, Batman searches for allies to combat him.

Catwoman, Batman's double agent within the Society, frees Harley from Gorilla City. Flash and a reformed Green Lantern reunite before joining Batman, who sends Hal to Atlantis to gain Aquaman's assistance. Aquaman refuses to cooperate at first, but relents after Brainiac attacks Atlantis. Meanwhile, Black Adam has found Kara Zor-El's disabled evacuation ship in space and brought her to Kahndaq, where he and Wonder Woman give partial truths about her cousin, leading her to become "Supergirl". When they witness Brainiac's forces attacking Earth, they attempt to revive the regime. Desperate, Batman releases Superman from custody.

Cyborg, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn return to the Batcave to free Brother Eye from Brainiac's control and coordinate civilian evacuation efforts. Wonder Woman takes Supergirl to Metropolis, and openly challenges Batman's plan. When she comes close to killing Cheetah and Harley Quinn, Supergirl stops her and heads to the Fortress of Solitude to confront Superman on the matter, learning the truth of her cousin's tyranny. With several of Earth's cities abducted, Brainiac prepares to eradicate the planet. The alliance attempts to take on Brainiac's ship, but his shields are too strong and he seemingly kills Superman in the process. They concoct a plan to weaken Brainiac's shields by using Aquaman's trident as a conduit for the magic of the Rock of Eternity.

Grodd pursues Aquaman and Black Adam with a brainwashed Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Blue Beetle. After Aquaman kills Grodd, the pair successfully weakens Brainiac's shields enough for Batman and Supergirl to break in. The two are captured, but Batman is rescued by Superman. After they defeat a brainwashed Firestorm and Swamp Thing, they are confronted by Doctor Fate, turned into Brainiac's servant by the Lords of Order. Fate is defeated and his helmet is destroyed, removing the Lords' influence; however, he is impaled and killed by Brainiac. They then incapacitate Brainiac, taking control of the ship. Superman manages to restore most of the cities back to their original locations.

The heroes are divided over Brainiac's fate. Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Supergirl want to spare him in order to restore the lost cities. Superman, Aquaman, Black Adam, and Wonder Woman want to kill him to eliminate his potential threat and use his ship. Batman subdues Superman with a gold kryptonite-laden dagger and a battle ensues. Batman and Superman defeat each other's teammates before engaging in a final battle in the Batcave. The battle has two endings, depending on which side the player chooses.

If Superman wins, he kills Brainiac, bonds with the ship and reestablishes the regime. He offers an imprisoned Supergirl the chance to join his army, claiming he restored the remaining cities and put Earth at peace. She refuses, and is horrified when she sees Batman under Superman's mind control.

If Batman wins, he depowers Superman and imprisons him in the Phantom Zone. He decides to create a new Justice League with his allies and offers Supergirl a membership within it.

Gameplay: 

It's time to throw dem hands...

Injustice 2 retains numerous gameplay mechanics from Injustice: Gods Among Us, including environment interaction, stage transitions, clashes, and character traits. The trait system, like before, provides a temporary buff or ability that compliments each character's playstyle. The super meter, which allows players to execute enhanced special moves and unlock powerful "super moves" when fully charged, also returns. Players can expend meter to perform new techniques, such as an evasive forward roll, which provides a way to overcome enemy keep-away tactics, or an air recovery, which lets characters escape an opponent's combo early. Most environmental attacks, which were completely unavoidable in the first Injustice game, can now be blocked; however, certain environmental attacks with large amounts of startup, such as throwing a car, will remain unblockable.

Injustice 2 introduces a loot-dropping system, known as the "Gear System", which offers character-specific costume pieces and equipment with status-altering effects. The Gear System uses RPG-like mechanics to reward players with experience and loot after every match. Every playable fighter is given four base stats: strength, defense, health, and ability, the latter of which impacts special attacks. As players collect experience points and subsequently level up, their characters' base stats will increase. Players can enhance their base stats even further by equipping gear obtained through loot drops, which also lets players customize the look of their characters. Rarer gear can include one or more bonus augmentations, which range from new visual effects for special moves to higher yields of in-game currency or experience points. Players can receive additional bonuses by equipping their characters with all five pieces of a single gear set. Gear comes in three varieties: equipment, shaders, and abilities. Besides the random loot earned at the end of a fight, all three types of gear are available to purchase in loot crates, known as "Mother Boxes", using in-game currency. Each character has five equipment slots for donning new costume pieces, which include their head, torso, arms, legs, and an accessory; two ability slots for equipping new or modified special attacks; and one shader slot for altering their color scheme. The game will also include five separate gear loadouts for each character, allowing players to switch between their setups at the beginning of each match.

The game also includes a microtransaction system. Players can buy "Source Crystals" using real-world money to purchase cosmetic adjustments for fighters, such as premier skins and shaders, instead of waiting to obtain them through normal play. Source Crystals can also be used to buy "Transform Gear". Transform Gear lets players apply the visuals of one piece of gear to another, allowing them to match their preferred stat modifiers with their preferred costume pieces. Lastly, once players have reached Level 20 with at least one character, Source Crystals can be used to level up other characters to their maximum levels. NetherRealm representatives clarified that any purchases made with Source Crystals are strictly cosmetic and offer no gameplay advantages.

In addition to the campaign, online, and arcade modes, Injustice 2 introduces a new "Multiverse" mode. Similar to the "Living Towers" mode from NetherRealm's previous title, Mortal Kombat X, the Multiverse allows players to travel through series of parallel worlds within the DC Universe and battle against opponents with various handicaps, stipulations, and goals. Online multiplayer will feature the option to disable Gear System upgrades and modifications, reducing all base stats to their default levels, turning any equipped gear into purely cosmetic items, and providing more balanced gameplay for competitive matches. Players can also form online "guilds" with up to 50 other players. Guild members can collaborate to complete daily and weekly cooperative objectives to earn and share gear exclusive to guild gameplay and climb the worldwide leaderboards.

The Verdict: 

Narrative

The game picks up almost immediately after where the first game left off, only 5 years later after the Justice League (from the main continuity) teamed up with Batman's Insurgency to defeat (Evil) Superman and take him to prison while his regime of followers went into hiding. I found it rather odd, at least from a gameplay perspective that Robin/Damien Wayne plays like the "new" Robin in the prologue of sorts, but he plays how Nightwing/Dick Grayson did in the original game, despite the fact that he's not playable this time around. I'm aware that Nightwing had an alternate costume/skin that made him take on Damien's appearance in the Injustice universe, but that would be just straight up rude (or better yet... cruel) of NetherRealms to include Nightwing as a DLC add-on out of one of the future additional (of possible 10 total that NRS are promising).

Things quickly rehash/recap the events that kickstarted the events of the first game that ends with a face off between Batman and Superman before fast-forwarding to the present with the alarming presence of Brainiac coming to Earth. I found it rather interesting that this sequel took some subtle nods from some of DC Comics' other works, such as Batman developing Brother Eye to monitor the rest of the metahumans on Earth (which ultimately bit him in the ass like it did during the Future's End event), Brainiac coming to Earth after the emergence of Kryptonians (Superman and Supergirl) peaked his interest, and Batman's kryptonite-powered Bat-suit (same thing Terry McGinnis uses against Justice Lords Superman in the Batman Beyond comics that are canonical with the animated series of the same name and the Justice League Unlimited animated series) to name a few.

I hope NRS does an Arrowverse themed Premiere skin pack for we can get costumes and dialogue for the CW versions
of The Flash, Captain Cold/Leonard Snart, Supergirl, and Canary. 

Each chapter of the 11+ chapters of the Story Mode (with 76 battles total if you want to see EVERY event transpire from all perspectives), allows you to play as one or two characters with the case of team-ups you have the option of selecting a different character prior to the pending battle at hand. My only gripe with this is that you can only pause or skip when the game reaches a certain point in the cutscenes, but restarting/reloading checkpoints after losing a battle or restarting where you quit is rather a chore as you're forced to watch a lengthy cutscene or two before you get back to where you were. I know that's more than enough to annoy casual players, along with the sometimes unforgiving AI in this mode. Some battles the AI is a complete pushover, while others it really kicks it up a few notches.

Each of the characters seem interchangeable with little effort done for their individual motives outside of maybe the Trinity, Supergirl, and Brainiac while others you're stuck left wondering why were they even here for this game's events, such as Atrocitus and Dex-Star just showing up in Hal Jordan's chapter merely to offer a Red Lantern ring to him or Cheetah and Reverse Flash showing up in Wonder Woman and The Flash's chapters respectively. I just felt that there was little thought put into some of these encounters other than "Oh let's have their archenemies and rogues face X hero/anti-hero here" to extend this campaign's run-time out or act as mere fan service. It just comes off as lazy in execution in the grand scheme of things.

To say that Grodd's Society (Reverse Flash, Cheetah, Bane, Deadshot, Captain Cold, and Grodd himself) were supposed to be major players in this game like the initial trailers hyped them up to be, they came off to be to pretty much an afterthought once Brainiac came into the picture and filled in the time doing his grunt work when he could have easily sent his drones to do what Grodd promised to assist him with.

Batman's Ending - This is the preferred ending for most players and the one I leaned towards more after dwelling upon it. Batman's planning proved to be fruitful - as usual - as he manages to subdue Superman and strip him away of his powers with the gold kryptonite. Imprisonment into the Phantom Zone is what they should have done in the first damn place, but given that thing, I doubt that would have held him in there long anyway.

That being said, I felt this was the "good" ending out of the two, with peace returning back to Earth as Batman and Supergirl lay down the foundations for a new Justice League. For some reason these games continue to ignore what happens to Batman's allies and Superman's Regime members after the climax. It just comes across as VERY lazy writing. 

Superman's Ending - This is the ending that didn't sit well with a lot of people - myself included - that left the Injustice universe in a far worse state than it was when the game began. Superman has merged his mind with Brainiac's ship and restored the archived civilizations and remaining cities that were thought to be lost. We can safely assume that Superman killed Brainiac as well, but anyone who follows the comics or seen any cartoon that Brainiac has been in knows that guy is harder to get rid of than butt acne and Ultron combined.

Call me crazy, but I think this ending is the one that has a lot more potential to be made canon with future sequels in this universe as there's far too many possibilities on where they could take this further. I know this is the ending that most people don't like and much rather they make Batman's ending canon, but if you read the Injustice tie-in comics, this universe has a knack (more like ongoing trope) for everything going from bad to worse, to shit hitting the fan in the worst way possible. 

Gear System

The Gear System allows players to customize their character(s) with stat modifying buffs and bonuses that change their appearance.  

As detailed above, the Gear System adds a RPG element to the fighting game genre, with loot boxes to have players obsess over like the fans of Overwatch as their rewards from their performances in matches from multiplayer and even single player content. The problem with this system is that while it's fun and addictive enough to extend the game's shelf-life outside of the competitive realm, it's completely random on what loot you acquire for the character(s) that you are playing. There's an option in the General Settings in the main menu to optimize/sway the loot acquired more towards the characters that you are playing currently, but it's still going to be a grind to get the stuff that you want. Out of the four days I had the game rented out of the past weekend, I got one character up to roughly Level 15, a few others to 5-10 thanks to play in Story Mode and miscellaneous Multiverse events and Battle Simulator ladders, but grew bored with this task rather quickly. Eventually I stopped caring how the gear looked on my favorite characters and was just looking for stuff with the best stats period. As the Multiverse challenges increase in difficulty or the rewards spike up in value, I'm sure that most players will resort to doing the same thing, especially in online multiplayer matches where these buffed characters are allowed to go nuts. 

I do appreciate the effort here by NetherRealm Studios to give players the ability to truly make these characters their own cosmetically and via customizable abilities and stats, but I wish there was an option to equip/change your gear without going all the way back to that menu. In single player modes, especially after receiving rewards, they should have included an option to open Mother Boxes right on the spot instead of going back to that menu too. It gets rather redundant really quickly. Players must also note that Mother Boxes should be opened the second you get them as the loot and gear within always applies to your character(s)'s current level, with the rare instances where you might get an Epic (rare) loot drop that is max level.

At least NRS had the foresight to make sure these customizations where only allowed in specific modes of play and won't completely ruin the online experience like the customizations found in Tekken Tag Tournament 2. God, I hope Namco-Bandai learned from their mistakes for Tekken 7...

Overall Experience

Damn, this game had some superb promotional artwork done.

To be honest, I can't speak on the Online Modes as it worked the first night of my rental with this as I was able to join a Guild, but for the rest of the weekend those options on the Main Menu were either grayed out or inaccessible in red, citing that I couldn't connect to the Injustice 2 server, despite being online to PSN. Maybe I had a bugged copy of the game or NetherRealms were doing maintenance but that's something I guess I would have to come back to if I were to rent or purchase this again down the road. From what I have heard from my friends' own online experiences, Deadshot is pretty much the Week 1 Deathstroke from the original Injustice, dominating the online matches with everyone resorting to spammable tactics for wins. 

I have to give NRS props where it's due. DC Comics' heroes and villains haven't ever looked this good in video game, since maybe DC Universe Online, but even these character models blow a lot of those out of the water. I'm glad that they abandoned the grim and depressing colors of the previous game and breathed a lot of life here with the usage of more colors. It makes this world come to life visually and aesthetically on an artistic level too. While I'm not too crazy about a lot of the voices cast to play parts in this (Kevin Conroy as Batman, George Newborn as Superman, and Susan Eisenberg as Wonder Woman I was perfectly fine with, but everyone else was either hit or miss IMO), the lip syncing and facial animations were incredible. I just wish NRS would quit recycling that death animation at the end of matches where opponents would fall down, only to stand back up and drop to one knee/on their knees in defeat. It's a minor gripe but looks so damn lazy when everything else looks amazing in this game.

As for the controls, they are the same as the first game, but I ran into a minor issue. If you're a Street Fighter player and looking to do those style inputs in a NetherRealms style fighter, it's not going to be understood by the game by default. Instead, the game has Input Shortcuts and Negative Edge enabled by default, so you have to disable those if you want traditional Street Fighter style inputs for the game. Even after changing that in the menus, I had an issue where moves weren't coming out properly to the point where I just said screw it and went back to the default settings. It's possibly something that will get patched out/corrected in a future update, but a minor annoyance for me in my short time with the game. Hey, I didn't care for those input controls for Mortal Kombat 9 nor the original Injustice and it's rather ridiculous that they have the option to switch the style inputs only for it to work haphazardly. 

With Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite and Tekken 7 on the horizon after the flop that was Street Fighter V's console release, Injustice 2 definitely raised the bar up from out of the toilet and into the heavens on what should be expected out of these fighting games in terms of single player content. Injustice 2's Story Mode is roughly 3-5 hours of content alone if you manage to do EVERYTHING with all of the branching story paths and multiple playable characters. The Multiverse is a fun, yet easy method to grind for EXP (experience) for characters, tokens/coins for spending on in-game items, and acquire Mother Boxes for obtaining more loot to customize your character(s) with. I'm glad that they scrapped the STAR Labs mode from the original game for this as those mini-games went from fun to absolutely retarded. Here, you can just pick up your favorite character(s) and have a ball however you see fit, no matter what your skill level is. On top of that, the Multiverse challenges refresh and update every few hours/days, so there's always something new to come back and do, along with the daily challenges (Street Fighter V has this as well, but who actually cares about doing those daily?) as well. 

Let's not forget about the downloadable content (DLC) on the horizon as well.

I can easily tell that Black Manta and Raiden make up the two of those 6 remaining DLC fighters, but no idea on the rest.

Sweet news to hear that Starfire is getting to be in this as I wanted her to be in the original, but seeing Red Hood makes me groan with disgust that I'm hoping that this game doesn't make the same mistake the original did and oversaturate the roster with nothing but Bat-Family affiliates and Batman rogues. From the tie-in comics and characters in the DC Universe as a whole, they shouldn't have any shortage of characters to pick from to be in this game. It's not like the original game where they had to depend on fan favorites and the established Batman brand to sell the product to people since it was a new IP. I know there's going to be plenty of people that disagree with me in that aspect, but for fuck's sake, there's TONS of games out there where you can play as Batman-themed characters. There's SOOO many other characters in DC Comics that deserve some representation in these games too.

Play It or Don't Bother?

Martha ain't gonna save you from this beatdown, Bats.

I personally rented the game last week for 5 days - completed Story Mode, ran through all most all of the roster's individual character trials/tutorials, and had enough time to dwell into the Multiverse for a lengthy bit of time. With the online content excluded, I enjoyed my time with the game. If you like the original game, there's more of the same while the fresh faces on the roster spice things up in a positive manner. I just hope that they bring back some of the other noteworthy characters from the original back in some fashion. If John Stewart can be in this as a premiere skin for GL and he's dead in the official storyline canon, I think NetherRealm Studios can find a means to make other characters playable in a similar regard. They have more than enough content here to keep players busy on and offline for months on end with the Multiverse and grinding it out for loot for Gear customizations for their favorite fighters while online Guilds and the Online AI Simulators will ensure that players of all skill levels will get something out of all modes of play. 

While I could knock this game for the sometimes "clunky" speed combat feels at times (it's just something about NetherRealms games that always feels off to me coming from Tekken/Soul Calibur and Street Fighter into playing this) and the recycled death/defeat animations, there's still some fun to be had here. NRS definitely learned their lessons from their first outing here and definitely raised the bar for a fighting game launch with tons of single player content, a thorough tutorial to teach players the basics and advanced techniques, and a stable (from what I've heard) online environment. 

Sorry, Capcom, but you're definitely going to have to bring your A game when Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite drops later this year after that mess that was Street Fighter V's launch last year. DC Comics and NetherRealms have raised the bar big time. For that, I'm more than happy to recommend that players give this game a shot. There's something here for everyone to enjoy, whether you plan on grinding it in the long haul and master every character and dominate the opposition online or you're just in for the short run for the story and messing around with the Multiverse and other various single player content. 

REVIEW -- Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight is a 2015 action-adventure video game developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the successor to the 2013 video game Batman: Arkham Origins, and the fourth main installment in the Batman: Arkham series. Arkham Knight was released worldwide on June 23, 2015.

Written by Sefton Hill, Ian Ball and Martin Lancaster, Arkham Knight is based on the franchise's long-running comic book mythos. Set one year after the events of 2011's Batman: Arkham City, the game's main storyline follows Batman as he confronts Scarecrow, who has launched an attack on Gotham City, causing a citywide evacuation. Scarecrow, with the help of the mysterious Arkham Knight, is also able to unite Batman's greatest foes in an attempt to finally destroy Batman.

Setting

One year after the death of the Joker during the events of Arkham City, Batman is struggling to come to terms with the absence of his nemesis and the uncomfortable feeling that the pair shared a bond deeper than either could admit. Without the Joker's chaotic presence, Gotham's citizens have never felt safer, and crime in the city has dramatically declined. However, this gives Batman's enemies, including Penguin, Two-Face, and Harley Quinn, a chance to unite with the singular goal of killing Batman.

On Halloween night, Scarecrow threatens the city with his newly created strain of fear toxin and bombs planted throughout Gotham, forcing the evacuation of the city's six million civilians. Only criminals remain in the city, leaving Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department outnumbered. Anticipating a new threat, Batman continues to develop crime-fighting technology and maintains a vigil over the city.

Arkham Knight's Gotham City is approximately five times the scale of the open-air Arkham City prison in Arkham City. The game takes place in the center of the city, which is split into three islands: Bleake, Founders, and Miagani, with various districts such as the neon-tinged Chinatown, and the industrial shipping yard. Bleake Island features shorter buildings, disheveled areas, and abandoned docks, while Founders Island is a modern development of skyscrapers built on the ruins of Gotham slums, and Miagani Island is an older metropolis with Wayne Tower at its center. Oracle has set up her communications headquarters in the Gotham clock tower, which also houses a makeshift Batcave.

Plot (FULL Spoilers)

On Halloween, Scarecrow forces the civilian evacuation of Gotham City after threatening to unleash his potent new fear toxin. Batman tracks Scarecrow to a hideout where he rescues the imprisoned Poison Ivy, who had refused to join Batman's other rogues in Scarecrow's plot. Batman meets with Oracle, who identifies Ace Chemicals as the source of Scarecrow's toxin. Batman investigates the facility but encounters the Arkham Knight and his heavily armed militia. Batman overcomes the forces and locates Scarecrow, who has transformed the entire building into a toxin bomb. Scarecrow reveals that he has kidnapped Oracle, and exposes Batman to the toxin before escaping. Batman inhibits the bomb's blast radius before he is confronted by the Joker.

A flashback reveals that before the Joker died, his infected blood was used in blood transfusions, infecting five people including Batman; Batman, concealing his infection from others, imprisoned the four other recipients who were physically and mentally transforming into the Joker. The Joker, now existing as a mental projection produced by the infected blood and fear toxin, frequently appears to taunt Batman, and manipulate his perception of the world around him. After Batman escapes the exploding Ace Chemicals, he alerts Gordon to Oracle's kidnapping, who angrily leaves to find Scarecrow.

Batman learns that Scarecrow recruited businessman Simon Stagg to build the "Cloudburst"—a mass dispersal device for the fear toxin. Aboard Stagg's airship, Batman interrogates Stagg and finds Scarecrow, but a dose of fear toxin allows the Joker to temporarily assume control of Batman's body while the Arkham Knight extracts the Cloudburst. Recovering, Batman locates Oracle in Scarecrow's hideout, but when he arrives she is exposed to the fear toxin, and commits suicide in terror. Harley Quinn seizes Batman's base in the Panessa movie studio to rescue the Joker-ized patients. Batman and Robin capture Harley and the infected, but one of the patients kills the others, before committing suicide, believing that Batman will become the perfect Joker. Realizing that Batman is infected, Robin attempts to imprison him before the Joker takes control, but is instead imprisoned by Batman, who refuses to stop until Scarecrow is caught.

No lie, the Arkham Knight's costume was pretty bad ass... Too bad the reveal to his identity wasn't a big surprise...

The Arkham Knight activates the Cloudburst, flooding the city with fear toxin. Batman destroys the Cloudburst and convinces Ivy to empower an ancient tree that can neutralize the toxin; she succeeds and saves Gotham, but the strain kills her, while Batman's exposure to the toxin strengthens Joker's control. Batman pursues the Arkham Knight to a construction site to rescue Gordon. The Knight reveals himself as Jason Todd, the previous Robin, who was seemingly murdered by the Joker, and has been left traumatized by torture at the Joker's hands. Todd blames Batman for abandoning him, and although Batman offers to help Todd recover, he escapes. Batman and Gordon confront Scarecrow on the building's roof, where Oracle is revealed to be alive, and her suicide the result of a hallucination. Batman rescues Oracle and returns her to the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), but Scarecrow escapes with Gordon. Using the remaining militia, Scarecrow assaults the GCPD to eliminate Batman's allies. Batman and Oracle neutralize the militia, but Scarecrow uses the distraction to kidnap Robin.

To save Robin and Gordon, Batman surrenders to Scarecrow and is taken to the ruins of Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow reveals Batman's secret identity to the world on television, before repeatedly injecting Batman with the fear toxin to break him before the public. Batman and the Joker then battle for control inside Batman's mind; Joker attempts to weaken Batman by recounting the people who have suffered and died because of Batman's crusade, but Batman triumphs and locks the pleading Joker away in his mind forever to be forgotten — the Joker's only fear. Todd arrives and saves Batman, who subdues Scarecrow with his own fear toxin.

After Batman ensures that Gotham is safe, Gordon dispatches the police to reclaim the streets, and Batman activates the "Knightfall" protocol to protect his loved ones. Surrounded by reporters, Batman returns home to Wayne Manor where he is greeted by Alfred. As the pair enter the manor, it explodes, seemingly killing them both. Gordon, now Gotham's mayor, prepares to attend Oracle and Robin's wedding. Elsewhere, two criminals attack a family in an alley but are confronted by a nightmarish silhouette resembling Batman.

Gameplay: 

Batman: Arkham Knight is set within Gotham City, which is open to the player from the beginning of the game, allowing them to travel freely anywhere within its boundaries without any loading transitions. Many of the gadgets and the gameplay elements from the previous Arkham games return, including the grapnel gun, line launcher, batarangs, the countering system, Detective Vision and the Remote Hacking Device. The Disruptor receives upgrades from previous games, becoming a rifle that can be used to disable or detonate enemy weapons and drone turrets, booby-trap weapon crates to shock enemies who attempt to arm themselves, and tag vehicles for Batman to track. The remote controlled batarang is similarly upgraded to include a scanner that can be thrown out to gain information on the surrounding area. New gadgets include the Voice Synthesiser, which can be used to imitate other characters' voices such as Harley Quinn and the Arkham Knight to direct thugs into traps.

The player can fly Batman throughout the city using his cape, with gliding now allowing for faster, longer sustained flights, steeper dives, and higher climbs. Batman can use some gadgets while gliding, such as batarangs or the line-launcher. The grapnel gun can now be used to instantly switch directions during a glide, as well as being fired twice while in the air to chain grappling moves together.

The game's 'FreeFlow' combat system allows for basic attacks including strikes, counters, and dodging which can be combined to keep Batman attacking while moving between enemies and avoiding being attacked himself. Basic enemies include enemies armed with shields and shock batons, while others are armed with guns which significantly damage Batman. These enemies can perform a charge and tackle attack only used by larger enemies in previous games; precision timed dodging, and a batarang can instantly defeat some charging enemies. The system adds the ability to combine attacks on prone enemies without interrupting a combo streak. Batman can counter enemy attacks and throw them into other enemies for increased damage. Batman is also capable of disarming enemies wielding items like baseball bats and using the acquired weapon on several foes before it breaks. Arkham Knight introduces "Dual Play", in which players can seamlessly switch control of Batman to one of his allies: Robin, Nightwing or Catwoman while in FreeFlow Combat, which the player enters when they have accumulated an uninterrupted combat streak. Each successful, uninterrupted attack adds to the player's combat score, which carries over between each controlled character and unlocks double-team takedowns on opponents at higher scores.

Arkham Knight introduces enemy medics who can shield enemies in electrified fields and revive unconscious ones, sword-wielding enemies, and brutes who are resistant to damage and must be stunned before they can be attacked; brutes wielding Gatling guns, tasers, and blades require additional steps to defeat. Enemies are capable of employing tactics to counter Batman's various skills, including deploying landmines, controlling hovering drones, disabling vents if Batman is found using them, and detecting his location if Batman uses Detective Vision for too long.

Throughout the city, Batman encounters enemy watchtowers, guard posts, aerial drones, and explosive mines embedded in the city streets. Some drones can be hacked and turned against their allies by using the Remote Hacking Device. Arkham Knight introduces the "Fear Takedown", where Batman can subdue up to five enemies simultaneously as long as he remains undetected; time is slowed after each takedown, allowing the player to target the next enemy. Hazardous items such as power generators can be used in combat for environmental attacks. Combat is rewarded with experience points, which are used to unlock gadget abilities, combat moves, and health upgrades. Batman can now access grates from afar, allowing him to roll forward and immediately get under the grate if in range instead of having to be right on top of them, while also initiating multiple takedowns from within them. Some enemies carry devices capable of blocking Batman's Detective Vision.

Arkham Knight features side missions, known as "Most Wanted" missions, which can be attempted at any time and feature prominent characters from the Batman universe. One such character, the Riddler, provides 243 optional "Riddler challenges" to solve. These challenges consist of collecting trophies hidden throughout the city, through the use of gadgets or Batman's car, the Batmobile, to disable traps and barriers, and completing timed races. The player can mark Riddler trophies on the in-game map once found if they do not initially have the necessary equipment to complete the puzzle, and learn of additional locations for collectables by interrogating the Riddler's henchmen.

Batman can investigate crimes such as murders, using his Detective Vision to reconstruct the crimes to locate clues and identify the perpetrators, or use his Tissue Scanner to investigate a victim's skin, muscle, and bones for clues. Completing the story mode unlocks a New Game Plus mode, enabling the player to replay the game with all of the gadgets, experience, abilities, and Riddler collectables that they have obtained. The completion of some tasks is reflected in the Gotham City Police Department, with thugs and supervillains becoming incarcerated, and criminal memorabilia from missions and previous games being collected in the evidence room.

Batmobile

The game introduces the Batmobile as a drivable vehicle. The bulletproof Batmobile can be summoned to the player's location while on foot or, if the player is airborne, summoned to meet Batman as he lands. The vehicle features the ability to perform jumps, speed boosts, rotate on the spot, smash through objects like barricades and trees, and fire missiles that can immobilize enemy vehicles. Batman can eject from the Batmobile and immediately begin gliding around Gotham City.

The Batmobile assists and takedowns were cool the first few hours of the game, but got REALLY old quick.

Most enemies will flee at the sight of the vehicle, eliminating the need for Batman to fight them, and enemies attacking the car can be subdued by its automated taser defenses. Like Batman, the Batmobile can be upgraded with new abilities. Riddler challenges also feature objectives requiring the Batmobile, such as timed races in tunnels beneath Gotham City, where the environmental obstacles change during each lap, and invisible question marks that must be revealed using the Batmobile's scanner.

The Batmobile has two modes, which can be switched at any time: Pursuit and Battle. Pursuit is for moving from area to area and completing specific driving challenges. In Battle mode, the Batmobile becomes more tank than car, allowing a full 360-degree range of movement, including strafing in any direction, while revealing the multiple weapon systems on board, including a Vulcan chain gun for quick damage, a 60mm hypervelocity cannon for fire support, anti-tank guided missiles for wide-ranging damage against multiple targets, and a non-lethal riot suppressor.

Additional upgrades to the vehicle include an EMP device, which releases an electric pulse used to temporarily stun enemy drones; and the "drone virus", which allows the player to override the weapon systems of enemy vehicles and cause them to attack each other. The Batmobile can also be controlled remotely, driven in indoor locations, and used in solving the game's puzzles, such as lowering an inaccessible elevator with its attached winch or obtaining a Riddler trophy. The Batwing is used in conjunction with the Batmobile to deliver upgrades.

The Verdict: 

Narrative

Let's just get this out of the way. I lost a LOT of respect for Rocksteady with this final act in the Arkham series. During all of their press events and interviews prior to the launch of this game, they cited repeatedly that the Arkham Knight was a completely new character and was NOT Jason Todd/Red Hood. Low and behold, when you finally confront the guy it is revealed that he IS Jason Todd. It's not like the game did a good job of making you believe that it could have been anyone else but Todd anyway, given from the numerous flashbacks and dialogue from The Joker's narration within Batman's mind. All of that hype and dragging it out for a lackluster reveal like they did in this game, but it still doesn't get where Todd got all of his resources and equipment from to fund this militia that he was leading to help Scarecrow with. 

Having Mark Hamill reprise his role as The Joker within Batman's subconscious was a nice touch as I think we all appreciated Joker's humor and wise cracks as his own unique commentary on everything that was going on in the game. My issue with The Joker here is that he ends up stealing the show (like that musical number) again, much like he did in Arkham Origins when the League of Shadows was supposed to be the focus.

I was scratching my head wondering where it went wrong on the narrative and then I found out (after some research) that Paul Dini (one of the creative minds behind Batman: The Animated Series) had ended his involvement with this series after Arkham City, so naturally that's why the narrative quality had declined.

I have to ask this question too. How come no one has asked why hasn't Batman/Bruce Wayne tried to cure himself after the events of Arkham City? It just seems like this is something he's been ignoring the whole time since that game when we saw him cure himself at the end of that game.

Let's go back to something about the main two antagonists for this game though... Out of everyone they could have brought back to be the main villain for this final chapter in the series, they couldn't have brought back someone like I dunno, Ra's Al Ghul for Batman's last hurrah? I could have easily bought into him as the Arkham Knight more than Jason Todd. He's already got the resources, connections, and motivation (Talia's dead, thanks to Batman's actions in Arkham City) - plus he knows all of Batman/Bruce Wayne's secrets. But no, they went with Scarecrow of all people... Even with the heights of what his fear toxins could drive people to do, I honestly can't buy into Scarecrow herding all of the Batman rogues together and answering to him of all people? Two-Face and Penguin should be calling the shots over Scarecrow. Explain to me why is Harley Quinn is reduced to being a grunt and errand girl for most of this game after how things went down in the Harley's Revenge DLC from Arkham City? She established herself as being capable of dealing with Batman herself - to an extent, so you would think her insanity, combined with her despair over her Puddin's demise would have driven her to a darker edge. It's just things like that I can see that the folks at Rocksteady who were writing this crap wasn't even thinking about the last game at all and how to resolve everything.

In terms of references to the previous games and tying up some of the loose ends, I have to applaud them for the Evidence Room in GCPD's headquarters. I thought that was a pretty sweet trip down memory lane. I know I felt fucking stupid when I realized that you could just break the glass and take the REC gun back and pick up the Freeze grenades from the desk at the base underneath the Amusement Park. The mini-BatCaves set up at the Clock Tower and at Wayne Towers were a nice touch and something I wanted to see in these games since the original, but it's cool that we got to see this stuff in a large scale like this since last-gen hardware couldn't crank out a city this massive for exploration.

I suppose the last thing we should touch up on is the game's ending, along with the 100% Completion "Knightfall Protocol" True Ending. I honestly felt that the initial ending was rather a big disappointment. Why is it that Scarecrow gets to be the last adversary in this series that is the one pulling all of the strings when it's all said and done who gets to unmask Batman and expose his identity of Bruce Wayne to the masses? While I didn't mind the trippy journey into both The Joker and Batman's minds to see whose will is stronger and who actually has no fear, it really didn't hold any weight to it when the player doesn't actually defeat Scarecrow. Everything after the point where you are forced to give up your devices and equipment and go with Scarecrow to save Gordon and Robin is out of the player's hands for this lackluster finale. It's just more bread crumbs that Batman is following into a rather obvious trap and he's still not bothering to quarantine himself until a cure to The Joker's infection fully corrupts him. No, but with this ending the player is supposed to believe that Batman defeated The Joker mentally so that cured him from being corrupted by Joker's infection forever? Sorry, I'm not buying that one. Even if Batman overpowered the fear toxin and what-not, why should exposing his identity to Gotham not be a bad thing? They should be thanking him after everything that went down tonight, especially after Batman went out of his way to recapture all of the Most Wanted criminals. The Knightfall protocol made even less sense since that Bruce Wayne/Batman's demise wouldn't have resolved anything if someone was able to deduce that Robin, Nightwing, Oracle, and his other allies were tied to Bruce Wayne. I just felt like that addition made the ending a cheap knock-off of what Christopher Nolan attempted to do with The Dark Knight Rises. We all know Bruce Wayne isn't actually dead as it looks like Batman was using some type of fear toxin on the thugs that tried to mug that family that strangely resembles the Wayne family. If his purpose was to leave a legacy, then he should have done what the comics have failed to do on MULTIPLE occasions and just allow the Bat-Family to continue on without him in his untimely demise. This includes actually allowing Nightwing to take his place as Batman.

That honestly kills me as a Batman fan. The guy is mortal and I get that people weren't too keen on Gordon taking over in the comics for a short while recently, but it would've been cool if we somehow got a pseudo Battle for the Cowl storyline in a future game, but no dice now after how Rocksteady ended things here. Hell, I don't even want to see that rumored prequel with the Court of Owls as that has like no remote ties to this universe. If the Owls existed in this continuity they would have had a bigger impact on the Arkham Asylum and City storylines - even Origins too for sure, so they can't just shoehorn them in now.

Gameplay

When it works, this game plays just as great as all of the previous outings of the Batman: Arkham series. Fear Multi-Takedowns are a new interesting concept added to Predator Combat and it felts a little overpowered at first, but for the fact that I played through the entire game on Hard (been doing that since the original Arkham Asylum) it was harder and harder to set up as the game went on. I don't know whether these issues that I had on PlayStation 4 was exclusive to that console, but I ran into a lot of instances where the controls would "lock-up" and I would be unable to move or act. As a result, I would get killed in the process only to repeat this ordeal over and over until either a soft reload of the checkpoint or reboot of the game would correct the issue. I have played the last three outings of this series on Xbox 360 and never had anything remotely close to that - the fact that I didn't run into something like this in that glitch-filled mess that was Origins was a godsend, so it was rather annoying to run into some glaring issues like that on here.

The game is visually beautiful and amazing to look at in action, with my personal favorite thing about the game being the "dynamic" camera angles to highlight and capture the action at the apex of the excitement levels, such as Batman stylishly dropping into the Batmobile to knocking enemy vehicles off the road with brutal precision. Seeing shots like that never gets old.

It's just a damn shame that a lot of the gameplay elements get old really fast. Most side quests and Riddler Challenges are mostly the same thing: fight off a few waves of enemy tanks in the Batmobile, sneak around and dispatch a group of militia troops in Predator Combat, chase a target in Pursuit mode in the Batmobile and knock them off the road, alternatively, use the Batmobile in Pursuit mode to navigate throughout Gotham or a race track within the allotted time, or team-up with an ally (either Nightwing, Robin, or Catwoman) in Dual-Play (see below) and take down a group of adversaries. Of course, there's Riddle Trophies to find and riddles to solve, but there's not much actual riddles than there are actually puzzles. I give the game props for thinking outside of the box on a lot of the puzzles this time around though. I'll give them that much.

I did enjoy stopping the bank heists involving Two-Face's men, as that was something I wanted in all the way back in Arkham City as a DLC post-game chapter. I was saddened to see that traditional challenge rooms were scrapped for the AR Challenges scattered throughout Gotham City that were unlocked with progression throughout the game. Is it too much to ask for these challenges to be in their own separate menu like they were in the previous games? Driving around to find these challenges is a bit too much of chore, much like 80% of the side quests for this game. 

Freeflow Combat

My biggest issue with the combat in Origins was that WB Montreal literally broke the system with the Shock Gloves. This gadget (once activated) ignored enemy shields, armored thugs, stun rod users and even dispatched Titan/Venom-powered thugs with ease, essentially making freeflow combat completely brain-dead and mindless devoid of any strategy outside of powering up the gloves. That's well and good for less combat savvy players of these games, but something that veteran players appreciated was the challenge that freeflow combat provides from the strategies required to take down every enemy type. Here, it seems like Rocksteady took feedback from the previous two games (Asylum and City) and really set it out to improve on everything that was already a great combat system. They strapped the Quickfire Explosive Gel for just a Remote Mine that Batman tags onto a random enemy (a glaring issue within this game in terms of the Quickfire gadgets never seeming to target the proper enemy in front of Batman).

I understand that I was playing the game on Hard difficulty, but I thought it was strange that the game would throw new enemy types at me with no explanation on how to deal with them. Even in the previous games, they would give you an idea on how to deal with new enemy types right off the bat, but here, I wasn't treated with a hint until multiple game overs and reloaded checkpoints. Still, that's a very minor gripe with the in-game combat here.

Freeflow here is as good as it has been in the previous outings, thanks to the removal of the Shock Gloves (unless they come back in a DLC add-on that I'm not aware of) to give these hand-to-hand skirmishes a sense of drama and urgency about them. I was glad that concept returned here as none of these encounters were the same and you had to tackle them all differently.

I should take a moment to discuss the Dual Play mechanic that was introduced in this game. I am going to shed some light on this, but it's not as revolutionary to this series as fans were led to believe. Rocksteady actually had this feature in development around the same time Arkham City came out, but was scrapped at the last second. I fondly remember a German trailer featuring gameplay footage of Batman and The Joker being shown off facing a group of thugs in freeflow and they would "tag" off like this in the EXACT same manner. It's cool that they finally let you play as multiple characters in freeflow and didn't muddle the waters with the possibility of another human player screwing up your timing, but at the end of the day, if you watch closely your AI companion is mostly mirroring your actions to an extent. They aren't going to stand around and do nothing, but they have enough brain cells to counter and do basic actions to keep themselves alive. I thought it was an interesting concept for sure, but I can't frown on this too much as there's only so much freedom you could give the AI partners/allies in this mode without them doing everything for you in Freeflow combat. I think this definitely satisfies the thirst for more playable content with Nightwing, Robin, and Catwoman outside of challenge rooms that was missing from Arkham City, even though their skill sets feel like they are lacking as much as they were in that previous title - at least to me anyway. 

The F'N Batmobile

The biggest feature/new addition that was revealed as the staple gameplay mechanic that this game revolved around was the Batmobile. We saw it briefly in the introduction to Arkham Asylum, (along with the fact that it's a DLC skin for the Batmobile if you shelled out the extra cash for the Season Pass) but after the events of Arkham City, Batman had to bring out the big guns (literally) to deal with this militaristic threat. I enjoyed the Batmobile for the first opening hours of the game, but by the end of the game I absolutely HATED it. In Pursuit/high speed chase mode, it slides around too much on turns and power steering to the point that you rarely feel like you have full control of it at all times, even though you can't deny that bad ass feeling when you run enemy cars off the road with side swipes or with the immobilizer rockets. What I don't get is why you can't use the Battle Mode on enemy vehicles in chase sequences. That would make a lot of those encounters a lot easier. Speaking of Battle Mode, there's no way in hell that Rocksteady can sell to me that Batman isn't killing people with this thing. Even when it's shooting "non-lethal rounds", you can still run over thugs and militia guards at high speeds, only for them to bounce off the hood but there's no way they should be getting back up from that. I think the Cobra tank sections were the worst though as the game literally forced you to stalk those tanks from behind where their weak points exposed until you got a lock-on. It would have made more sense and be more fun if you could just take the shot from behind instead of in front.

While this is a very minor oversight that they could have corrected later with an upgrade, but I hated the fact that once that the narrative forces you to get the "back-up" Batmobile that has all of the subweapons that you didn't take from Lucius Fox and/or Alfred the first go-round. That made the battle against Scarecrow's army of tanks such a damn chore as a result, despite Oracle's help. Speaking of that, I don't get why so much of the latter half of the game is restricted to these boss battles in the Batmobile. I thought we were playing a Batman game and not a simulated MechWarrior spin-off? The chase against Arkham Knight in his drill machine, the fight against the army of militia tanks with Ivy's plants assisting you, the army of Scarecrow's tanks storming on GCPD HQ, the fight against Arkham Knight in his Cloudburst tank and the 6 Cobra tanks, and so on... it was too fucking much focus on the Batmobile at this point. You know it's bad when you're forced to spend more of your experience points on upgrading the Batmobile than actually upgrading Batman's gadgets and combat skills. I'm pretty sure that I haven't seen the bulk of Batman's skill tree in action just from devoting so many skill points to the Batmobile. It's a darn shame too as I'm sure most players won't experience that as well.

One thing is certain though, whenever you're driving the Batmobile, there's always a sense of how much power that you're packing at your fingertips that hasn't existed in these games until now. It's a crazy adrenaline rush that really keeps you within the moment of the action. I guess that's what makes controlling this monster of a machine even more frustrating as it's so easy to lose control with so much power at your disposal.

Downloadable Content

I dunno about anyone else, but my copy of the game only came with the Scarecrow DLC, the pre-order DLC skins, and the Harley Quinn DLC. There wasn't nothing in the box mentioning Red Hood. Oh well...

Harley Quinn's Story Pack

I can't speak on the Red Hood and other various DLC Arkham episodes (yet), but from what I played of the Harley Quinn episode, that was a complete waste of time and could have been part of the actual campaign. I feel sorry for anyone who actually put down any extra cash for that. I started one of my streams of this game on PS4 with this DLC and finished it in less than 30-40 minutes. I don't know why I'm surprised at this stage when they half-assed the Deathstroke pre-order DLC too for Origins. Harley's campaign wasn't bad, but it's a far cry for anyone who was looking forward to playing as her in a lengthy fashion. It's over as quickly as it begins and you don't get a sense of her abilities/skill set until it's over anyway, so it feels like a complete waste of an opportunity. I did enjoy her twist on Detective Mode with her conscience as Dr. Harleen Quinzel trying to talk sense to her in her from prolonged usage though.

I know I'm going to get heat for saying this, but I hope Tara Strong doesn't quit her day job(s). Playing Harley Quinn is not her forte in this game at all, with every line she has in this game I'm hearing either Bubbles (Powerpuff Girls) or Clare Brewster (Beetlejuice). She's not even trying to sound remotely like Arleen Sorkin anymore and just coasting on the same recycled tone/voice she does for roughly every other character in animation she plays nowadays. 

Play It or Don't Bother?

Finish the fight... You've played these games this far. You might as well see the story to it's end.

If you have played all of the other entries in the Arkham series up until now, then you owe yourself to finish the trilogy. That being said this isn't a polished adventure as much as the acclaimed Arkham City was. Sure, you got a MUCH bigger city to explore and traverse and it's definitely simply gorgeous to see in action, but a lot of the actual gameplay gets redundant rather too quickly for my taste. I initially loved the addition of the Batmobile, but after how the main story campaign forces its use onto you so heavily throughout the game, I found that aspect to be a chore after a while. Just be prepared to little to no "real" boss fights this time around and more emphasis on Predator Combat and maneuvering the Batmobile around the city. 

PREVIEW -- Batman: Arkham Knight - Ace Chemicals Infiltration Trailer: Part 1

Two days ago, Rocksteady released this first gameplay video of the latest footage to come from the upcoming final Batman video game in the Arkham series, Arkham Knight. I don't know about you guys but I can't stop watching this over and over without getting excited.

(Stands up and applauds) After Batman: Arkham Origins (I know that I still owe you guys a review on that game...), I was really starting to worry about the future of this franchise, but this trailer as COMPLETELY restored my faith in these games.

I was a little skeptical on how the Batmobile would be implied from the initial trailers before this. I felt that it would take away from Batman's gliding and swinging around Gotham, but this trailer proves that the transitions between the two will be seamless. I thought the ability to pick up and drop off victims/hostages with the Batmobile was pretty damn cool too.

The ability to link/chain multiple takedowns was something I wanted in since Arkham City, so that was an added bonus to see here. About time they went outside of the box in terms of improvements and upgrades to Predator actions as well. I would love a complete breakdown to exactly how the "Fear Takedowns" differ from the standard normal stealth Takedowns.

One thing I have to wonder is Rocksteady keeping up that bullshit idea about the cannons on the Batmobile firing "non-lethal" rounds when it's clearly exploding on contact like damn grenades. These guys in the Arkham Knight's "army" are clearly wearing body armor, so I'm doubt some bullshit non-lethal rounds are going to keep them down for long.

I'm not dwelling too hard on story/plot details for now, but I'm anxiously awaiting the next part in this gameplay teaser series.